Sheriff David Morgan and Escambia County Commissioners are mediating in private, after Gov. Rick Scott encouraged the two sides to work together to find an informal solution to the budget impasse.

Morgan filed an appeal in October to the governor's office asking for more than $2 million in additional funds for the 2017-2018 fiscal year to address pay compression issues that he said are causing his office to lose deputies faster than his office can replace them.

Commissioners and the Sheriffs Office held a day-long mediation session on Friday that went into the evening, and the county will hold another attorney-client session Thursday, at which point an announcement is expected, according to Commission Chairman Jeff Bergosh.

Bergosh told the News Journal a confidentiality agreement prevents him from going into details about what was said at the meeting.

The Sheriff's Office had no comment on the mediation between it and the county.

"As per the confidentiality agreement that was signed by all parties before mediations began, we cannot discuss the status of mediation until it is complete," said Maj. Andrew Hobbs, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

After a series of back-and-forth filings, the governor's office sent a letter to both parties in January asking to stop any additional filings and urged them to work toward an informal resolution of the appeal.

The sheriff's budget appeal hangs over the county as the budget process for the 2018-2019 fiscal year is starting to get underway at the county.

"I think people have a right to know that we're still working at it," Bergosh said.